Taylor repurposes the "she wears short skirts" melody from "You Belong With Me" in order to bust up a wedding, Graduate-style. But freeing the man of her dreams from bad-marriage hell is almost an afterthought on "Speak Now"; the real fun is listening to her unload her simile nail gun at the disgustingly perfect bride-to-be — a mean girl who "floats down the aisle like a pageant queen" in a "gown shaped like a pastry." And all of it comes off catchy as heck and cute as a button. The girl knows how to spin hate into cotton candy.

Photos: Taylor Swift Growing Up

This story is from the October 28, 2010 issue of Rolling Stone.

“Oh Sherrie”

Steve Perry's girlfriend Sherrie Swafford was actually in the studio when Perry began writing this song--his lone Top Ten hit as a solo act--with two co-writers. The trio began at midnight one night with just "Oh, Sherrie!" and "hold on, hold on." Three hours later, they had a complete song. Swafford, however, had to wait until the next day to hear it. "Sherrie actually got tired and went to bed," Perry said. She also appeared in the video, but their relationship did not hold on for long.